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Stayin’ in touch: Bee Gee tips for absent fathers

THE government has enlisted Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees singer, and Gary Lineker, the sports presenter, to encourage fathers separated from their children to stay close to them.

In an interview to be shown at a launch event this week by Ed Balls, the children’s secretary, Gibb, 58, speaks of having been “very, very nervous” and “horrified” at the prospect of seeing his children, Spencer and Melissa, for the first time after he divorced his first wife, Molly Hullis, in 1980. “‘Out of control’ is the first emotion alienated parents feel when they’re separated from their kids,” says Gibb. “They feel threatened. They feel as if they are not dictating events.”

Gibb says that one of the most difficult parts of reestablishing the relationship with children is knowing there might be another man in their home. “That’s what a lot of fathers can’t deal with,” he says.